Hurricane Fran (1973)
Hurricane Fran reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 8, 1973 and October 13, 1973, with a lowest pressure of 978 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Fran, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1973 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- October 8, 1973 to October 13, 1973
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 978 mb (28.88 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 133 km (83 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 5.3
- Fastest the center moved
- 41 kt (47 mph)
- Identifier
- AL141973
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 18:00 | 30.0N 65.8W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Subtropical depression |
| Oct 9, 00:00 | 30.3N 63.9W | 30 kt | Subtropical depression | |
| Oct 9, 06:00 | 30.7N 62.3W | 40 kt | Subtropical storm | |
| Oct 9, 12:00 | 31.0N 60.2W | 45 kt | 1005 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 9, 18:00 | 31.5N 57.8W | 55 kt | 1003 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 10, 00:00 | 31.9N 55.2W | 65 kt | 998 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 10, 06:00 | 32.5N 51.7W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 10, 12:00 | 33.1N 48.1W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 10, 18:00 | 33.8N 44.9W | 65 kt | 996 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 11, 00:00 | 35.1N 41.9W | 65 kt | 993 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 11, 06:00 | 36.8N 38.3W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 11, 12:00 | 38.7N 34.5W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 11, 18:00 | 40.7N 30.2W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 12, 00:00 | 42.7N 25.8W | 70 kt | 993 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 12, 06:00 | 45.4N 21.5W | 65 kt | 983 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 12, 12:00 | 47.2N 16.4W | 65 kt | 978 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 12, 18:00 | 48.0N 13.0W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 13, 00:00 | 48.2N 10.2W | 65 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 13, 06:00 | 48.2N 8.0W | 65 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 13, 12:00 | 47.9N 6.5W | 65 kt | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Hurricane AliceNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Tropical Storm AlfaNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Hurricane BrendaNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Tropical Storm ChristineNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Tropical Storm DeliaNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Hurricane EllenNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Tropical Storm GildaNorth Atlantic · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1973
What this means
A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.
Sources
Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.
The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.